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Possible definitions for riddel

riddle
Deliberately enigmatic or ambiguous question requiring a thoughtful and often witty answer. The riddle is a form of guessing game that has been a part of the folklore of most cultures from ancient times. Western scholars generally recognize two main kinds of riddle: the descriptive riddle, usually describing an animal, person, plant, or object in an intentionally enigmatic manner (thus an egg is "a little white house without door or window"); and the shrewd or witty question. A classical Greek example of the latter type is "What is the strongest of all things?"--"Love: iron is strong, but the blacksmith is stronger, and love can subdue the blacksmith."


Iredell
U.S. (British-born) jurist. His family emigrated to N. Carolina, where he was appointed comptroller of the customhouse at 17. He helped draft and revise the laws of the new state of N. Carolina and served as state attorney general (1779-81). He led the state's Federalists in supporting ratification of the U.S. Constitution, and his letters in its defense (signed "Marcus") are said to have prompted Pres. G. Washington to appoint him to the U.S. Supreme Court (1790). He wrote several notable dissents, incl. those for Chisholm vs. Georgia (1793; affirming the subordination of the states to the federal government) and Ware vs. Hylton (1796; upholding the primacy of U.S. treaties over state statutes). His opinion in Calder vs. Bull (1798) helped establish the principle of judicial review five years before it was tested in Marbury vs. Madison. He served until 1799.


Riel
Canadian leader of the Mé tis people in W Canada. Riel was born in St. Boniface, Manitoba. In 1869 he headed a revolt against Canadian expansion in the west that resulted in the establishment of the province of Manitoba (1870). Intermittent hostilities continued for several years thereafter, and Riel was officially outlawed. In 1885 he led a Mé tis uprising in Saskatchewan that was crushed by the Canadians. Riel was found guilty of treason and hanged. His death led to ethnic conflicts in Quebec and Ontario and marked the beginning of the nationalist movement.


Riopelle
Canadian painter, sculptor, and graphic artist. Born in Montreal, he moved to Paris in 1947 and, with P.-E. Borduas, became associated with the group of Canadian painters known as Les Automatistes, who practiced automatism. His early lyrical, abstract paintings evolved into a denser, more powerful impasto style; he is renowned for his use of various media (incl. watercolor, ink, oils, crayon, and chalk) and he also produced large collage murals. He achieved international acclaim with the huge triptych Pavane (1954). He is the leading Canadian abstract painter of his generation.

Top words beginning with R: recapitulationist, reccy, reaccommodated, redbugs, rateless, reedless, racetrack, rays, reunions, redeemability, reheeled, ranger, rufotestaceous, recontracts, relinking, rehabilitating, rapped, rarefy, ratsnake, relique

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